September 2008
46 posts
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“You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.”
– Charles Buxton
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Training Session 3 with Coach Keith
Started by doing 3 rounds of Cindy as a warmup, then went into squat work. Started light again and worked up to 245lb for 3 sets of 5 reps. The form felt really good at times but it’s still inconsistent. I gotta keep thinking of my cues when I’m squatting: look down, chest up, elbows back, ass out, etc. Lifting the toes a little also helps me keep the weight on my heels.
Coach Keith...
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Twelve Twelve (Twelve)
12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 of the following:
Burpees
Pullups
Double Unders
Total time: 13:39. Man, I gassed pretty hard on this one. The rickety pull up tower we have the kf school isn’t ideal for powering through quick reps, I’ll tell you what.
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Kung Fu class
Small class tonight so we did a quick warmup of all the standard stuff and went into form work. I helped the newbies with Gung Ji and drilled myself on the opening section of Fu Hok Seung Ying Kuen and the crane section of Ng Ying Kuen when I was free.
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Jump Rope Intervals
Tried out the “kids’ playroom” in the new building and kept it simple today:
15 x 60 sec (rest 30 sec)
Did my damndest to maintain the high-knee-sprint-in-place skipping throughout, but there were periods of regular skipping here and there. This little space in the basement might just be my savior on foul weathered days like today.
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“Sleep is the single best weight loss tool, muscle gaining tool, training tool,...”
– Dan John
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Really Quick Metcon Circuit
Keith cooked up this little quickie since we spent most of our time on technique:
5 Burpees
5 DB Cleans (25lb)
5 DB Thrusters (25lb)
Repeat 5x
Total time: 3:48. Easy peasy, but I need to get in the habit of motoring through these quick workouts even faster. Since the total time is so short, the intensity should be much higher. I was trying to use good form on the cleans and thrusters based on...
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Training Session 2 with Coach Keith
Coach Keith got right into work on the 3 basic barbell lifts today, starting with just the bar and working up to moderate weight with sets of 5 reps.
Squats: already feeling way better. I’m getting good depth and feeling pretty balanced on my heels. The main thing I have to work on here is the grip on the bar and keeping my elbows up. Got up to 185, which wasn’t difficult.
Deadlifts:...
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Kung Fu class
Beginners class was lots of stance work and basic hand techniques. We really drilled the dragon step and its variations tonight. Afterwards, we ran through Tiet Sien Kuen as a group, keeping in mind all the new clarifications Sigung gave us last weekend. The guys who were at the seminar with me also reviewed some of the techniques we covered there.
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Kung Fu class
After a quick circuit warmup, we started drilling the basic circular blocks - bong sau for the outside, wu dip jeung for the inside. First I had the guys just transition between the two in the mirror to the get the feel for it, then we partnered up and worked off of our partner’s straight punch, alternating between the techniques. After the guys had the feel for it, we started mixing in...
CrossFit Virtuosity | New York →
“What we do at CrossFit Virtuosity is teach you how to move better. We draw from a wide variety of gymnastics and weightlifting movements and incorporate them in ways that make you stronger and more fit.”
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Quick Metcon Circuit
Coach Keith ran me through a quick metabolic conditioning workout after the barbell work and before the stretching. He had me follow the Crossfit rep scheme of 21, 15, 9 of the following exercises:
Deadlift (135lb)
Pushups
Box Jumps
Total time: 5:00.
It was interesting to throw the deadlift into the mix of a conditioning workout since my form isn’t great yet. It really made me focus on...
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Training Session 1 with Coach Keith
Had my first private training session with Coach Keith from Crossfit Virtuosity today. His Back to School Special seemed like a great opportunity for me to work on the basic barbell and olympic lifts with an experienced coach, so I signed up for the 12 session program (twice a week for 6 weeks). Keith agreed to meet up Tuesday and Friday mornings at 7am at Mid-City Gym since my kung fu schedule is...
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Kung Fu class
Standard warmup followed by lots of bridge training and conditioning. Helped the beginners with forms and drilled some of the stuff covered in this weekend’s seminars.
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Kung Fu Seminars
A full day of testing and seminars at the Clifton branch today. In the morning Sigung explained a lot of the finer points of the updated version of Tiet Sien Kuen. Really great, eye-opening stuff as always. Then, after junior testing I stuck around for the Gung Ji seminar where we covered some basic elbow techniques and gings contained in the form. Also amazing, especially when combined with the...
Egg Purchasing Guide →
“The choice is pretty clear. If you can afford it, look for local varieties of pasture raised eggs. Try the farmer’s market or gourmet grocery stores. If not, at least stick with organic, cage free, free range eggs.”
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Kung Fu class
Another easy class for the beginners - stance work, basic kicking drills, and work on the fundamentals of chop choy. After they left Sifu worked us on the Seven Star footwork with the element fists and started to show us a cool two man training drill.
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“The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea.”
– Isak Dinesen
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GPP Circuit
Med Ball Woodchoppers x 30 sec (16)
Med Ball Slams x 30 sec (18)
Burpees x 30 sec (10)
Jumping Jacks x 30 sec
Mountain Climbers x 30 sec
Chinnies x 30 sec
Repeat 5x, resting 30 sec between rounds.
Argh, I was keeping a pretty good pace on the woodchoppers and the slams until the last set. I was so sweaty by then that the ball kept slipping in my hands. Sweat - my gift, my curse.
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Kung Fu practice
Open practice at the school today. Continued to work on Ng Ying Kuen, concentrating on the elements section and the new animals sections (snake, leopard, tiger).
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Kung Fu practice
Jeez, what’s up with my little park? After carefully mapping out the distance on Gmaps Pedometer, I went over to J.J. Byrne for a workout to find that even more of the park is fenced off and under construction. So, as a backup plan, I headed over to the area of the park that’s not yet off limits and practiced a bit. I also sprinkled in 50 pullups off the smaller swing set - 5 sets of...
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A note on intermittent fasting
So I’ve toyed with IF for a few days here and there for the past few weeks and decided that it’s not practical for me right now.
I’ve found it to be relatively painless (I didn’t turn into the devil when my blood sugar dropped like I anticipated) and honestly wasn’t even very hungry during periods of fasting. By drinking water and simply waiting out the hunger pangs,...
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Kung Fu class
Nice easy class for the beginners today - chi gung followed by a quick warmup and then into forms. Afterwards, I worked myself on Fu Hok Seung Ying Kuen. Ran through the entire form and then focused on the elements. I really want to get this section to flow better - it’s very similar to the stuff I learned in my Lama Pai days. Also did some laps with the walking water fist and ran through...
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“Obsessed is a word used by the lazy to describe the dedicated.”
– unknown
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Tangled 20
Headed out to J.J. Byrne to find that my workout area (including my newly discovered pullup bar) is a construction site. So I changed my plan and created another Tabata hybrid workout. This one is kinda like a turkey club - where the jump rope is the bread, the pushups are the bacon, and the squats are the turkey:
Tabata Jump Rope
Tabata Pushups (8)
Tabata Jump Rope
Tabata Squats (16)
Tabata...
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Core Training
L-sit x 30 sec
Side plank x 1 min (each side)
Front plank x 1 min
20 Bird-dogs
Repeat 4x
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Dumbbell Bear
Had a go at the “Dumbbell Bear” complex today.
Every minute on the minute for 20 minutes perform the following:
5 Deadlifts
5 Hang Cleans
5 Thrusters
Load shold equal 45% of bodyweight. 185 x .45 = 83.25, so I used 2 40lb dumbbells. Got through the first 10 rounds, but it wasn’t gonna happen for the full 20, so I dropped down to 20lb for the second half. Really tough,...
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Kung Fu class
Beginner class today was pretty basic - lots of the basic stances, transitions, and hand techniques. After their time was up, I ran through Tiet Sien Kuen focusing on regulation and soft power.
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Kung Fu class
I decided to lead the guys throgh a core-centric circuit warmup with some jumping jacks, pushups, v-ups, and plank holds. Then we did 100 roundhouse kicks with the heavy pads to demonstrate the role the core plays in power generation. Power may come from the stance and the hips, but if you don’t have a strong core, you can’t transfer the power to the strike.
After that, we drilled the...
Sweaty people 'less asthma prone' →
“The ability to sweat may do more than keep the body cool - it may mean a lower chance of exercise-related asthma, say scientists.”
The Prison Workout →
“So that’s a burpee. That one movement works pretty much the entire body from head to toe by combining a squat with a pushup. Because you’re constantly switching from squats to pushups you’re teaching your body to use the arms and legs simultaneously, like in a fight. Because you’re moving the body from a vertical plane to a horizontal plane continuously,...
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Kung Fu class
After a circuit style warmup, went into a mini forearm/hand training circuit:
Partner A does 10 reps with the wrist roller
Partner B sits in horse stance and squeezes sand bag with tiger claws
Once A hits the 10th rep, switch roles.
Repeat 2x
After that, did three star block and continued to work the arms with stick flicks. Then I helped the newbies with Gung Ji for a spell. After they left,...
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Core Training
50 Abmat Situps
50 Bird-dogs
50 Floorwipers
Repeat 4x
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Max Strength Training
Heavy strength day.
Turkish Get Ups
3 x 55lb
1 x 90lb
3 x 80lb
1 Arm DB Snatch*
3 x 90lb
3 x 90lb
3 x 90lb
3 x 90lb
1 Arm DB Clean & Press
3 x 90lb
3 x 90lb
3 x 90lb
Simple pair, repeat 4x:
Weighted Pullups (90lb) - 5, 4, 5, 4
DB Bench Press - 4 x 90lb, 5 x 80lb, 5 x 80lb, 5 x 80lb
Simple pair, repeat 4x 3x:
Weighted One Legged Squats (45lb) - 5, 5,...
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Kung Fu class
Went through the paces with the beginners tonight. Lots of work on the basics - stance, bridge training, straight punch into rolling backfist. After class ran through Tiet Sien Kuen with Ali and Malcolm. Good connection today.
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Bearcage 10
Like the Jailhouse 10, but bear crawled from one end of the kf school to the other between sets:
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Burpees
Total time: 4:30.
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Kung Fu class
Warmed up and then drilled the chop choy for a while - first individually and then with partners. Then we went into sparring and tried to work the chop choy into the mix. It’s good to be back baby!
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Pullups + Pushups 4eva
Grabbed the top of the entry way to the cement baseball field in the park (right above the J.J. Byrne Park sign) and found it was a pretty good place to crank out the pullups, so I cranked out 20. Then I dropped and cranked out 20 pushups. Did that again, then went into sets of 10/10 until I hit 100:
100 Pullups
100 Pushups
Didn’t have a timer with me, but tried to get through it as...
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Kung Fu practice
Back behind the OSH in J.J. Byrne Park. Practiced Tiet Sien Kuen in the dark. There were a lot of teenagers making a ruckus nearby, so it was good practice for me tune everything out and focus. Felt pretty good.
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Kung Fu practice
In J.J. Byrne Park again, by The Old Stone House. Ran through Tiet Sien Kuen to clear my head and destress a bit. It felt very good.
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Jump Rope / Burpee Intervals
Back out at J.J. Byrne Park for some interval work. This time I was on the cement “baseball” field. I think I spotted a place for pullups too: the cross beams for the basketball hoops.
3 min Jump Rope
3 min Burpees (51)
2 min Jump Rope
2 min Burpees (30)
1 min Jump Rope
1 min Burpees (18)
30 sec Jump Rope
30 sec Burpees (11)
I rested 60 seconds after the 3 min intervals,...